Page 6 - AAPT November 2019

INTELLIGENT SPACE SYSTEMS

The right opportunity for Australia

The Australian Space sector is a rapidly growing area. experienced engineers and scientists with the customer
In a few short years, the Australian Space Agency has to develop mission requirements, perform trade studies,
been established; the CRC SmartSats has commenced and determine the design concept needed to meet
the requirements.
and recently the Prime Minister announced a $150M
investment to engage NASA’s lunar and Martian road Our missions accompany a broad suite of research
map. Next year the world’s largest space research activities, from the science of Space Situational Awareness
conference COSPAR 2020 will be held in Sydney. (SSA) including groundbased space surveillance, space
weather modelling, and studies of the interactions between
The country is buzzing with the space conversation,
space objects and their complex environment through to
and the rest of the world queueing to engage with us.
the development of optical and RF sensors, technologies to
To make an impact in the space sector Australia depends support satellite pointing stability for optical communications,
on space-derived information and space-enabled and approaches to satellite and satellite formation control.
communications. Alongside that, there is the rapid growth in UNSW Canberra Space recognises the opportunity ahead
UNSW Canberra Space the deployment of constellations of miniaturised spacecraft. for Australia to become a world leader in the development
The key opportunity for Australia in space is to combine the of intelligent space systems.
ADVANCING THE ART disruption of this miniaturised satellite technology with other We are undergoing transformation, to embrace the
disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI),
application of AI to space technologies. Machine learning
autonomous systems and quantum technologies. Australia
OF SPACE RESEARCH can be amongst the world’s best leaders in this field. capabilities are being developed for processing data
on-board satellites and deriving actionable information
This is where we come in. UNSW Canberra hosts
Australia’s largest and leading space mission program— for communication directly to the user, in near real time.
UNSW Canberra Space. This flagship research centre was The applications include cloud detection, object
#1 in Australia for world-class end-to-end space mission capability established in 2014 and has grown rapidly with investments classification, and RF time-series anomaly detection. Future
by both UNSW and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). missions will deploy edge computing for space applications.
Artificial intelligence and space research (SSA, sensors, The group of more than 50 is actively designing, building and UNSW Canberra Space will only continue to grow with more

communications) to meet user needs flying advanced intelligent satellite missions, underpinned spacecraft in orbit in 2020, and further progress in SSA
by world-class research, translated to world-class education, science and in AI for space.
Australian National Concurrent Design Facility - concurrent to meet challenges and opportunities on the ground.
Our strategic intent includes: building on this strong
engineering for space missions To date, UNSW Canberra Space has a total of ten satellites foundation by establishing a rolling series of missions
in various stages of development or in orbit, including the supported by continued growth in our educational offerings
Space engineering and space operations education Buccaneer Risk Mitigation Mission (BRMM), and the M2 to provide a skills and training pipeline for the future
maritime surveillance / formation-flying cubesat pair.
space cadre of the Australian Defence Force and broader
In support of the development of such missions, UNSW Australian space sector; and by collaborating with end
Canberra Space established the Australian National users to explore what is possible for miniaturised satellite
Concurrent Design Facility (ANCDF), assisted by the French constellations with on-board intelligence, SSA research
HELP US FIND HIGH IMPACT SOLUTIONS TO Space Agency (CNES). Modelled on those used by major and development that enhances Australia’s contribution to
CRICOS No. 00098G EXCITING, CHALLENGING PROBLEMS. space agencies around the world, the facility brings together global space traffic management.
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